Decorated or ornamental woodwork and other structural materials



April 7, 1925.

. L. G. NlcQLl. ..DEGORATED OE QHNIMENTAL WQODWORK AND OTHER `.s TRUGTURALI MATERIALS Filed sept. e. 192.4v

III

fp.: tive in one or other of a variety of ways,v one Patented Apr. 7, 1925` UNITED STATES ATENT oFFlc1-:.- f

LEONARD GEORGE NICOLL, 0F LONDON, FING-LAND,

nEcoRATEn on oRNAMnNTAL woonwonx AND' OTHER s'rmTcTURAL HATERILS.,

'Application led September 6, 1924. Serial No. 736,351.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LEONARD ,GoRGE NICoLL, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at 34 Tetherdown, Muswell Hill, London, N. 10.

of the commonest being that of yeneering with a thin layer of material-usually wood-ofa more ornamental character. In.

some ,cases the veneer is of the same variety of wood as is the base, differing therefrom merely in the characterA ofr the grain, but more usually the base is of a cheap or common wood while the veneer is a thin layer of a Wood of-a more costly kind.,

' A'number of cheaperl methods of decorating Wood surfaces so as to produce ,thereon a representation of a more expensive or decorative wood are also known. For in` stance, it has been proposed to subject a Wood surface to a printing and 'indenting operation by means of engraved rollers o r to transfer a printed design imitating the grain of woodfto a suitable surface by apnaturally occurring material such as woodJ =graphic negative of 'such grain:

ply'ing thereto a paper on which a reverse design Isprinted in colors, capable of being softened by moisture.

, The present invention consists broadly in a new article of manufacture, namely structural material having. in Asubstantially immediate or direct and .permanent contact with ne or more of its surfaces a photographic image of the grain or veinngof a or stone yformedfwith-tl1eaid of a photo As instances oft -whatjis intended to be included within the scope of the term structural material as used herein 'the vfollowing materials are specified. vas examples :-sheet metal', pulp boai'd natural or artificialV stone including slate and artig fici'al slate as,l vforja;instance, the so-called asbestos slate.l 'v. i l

ifquartering ,effect lwhich lis 'presented by certain woods,

such as mahogany. f

With advantage the photographic image is one formed in a silver'salt emulsion.

Preferably, the wood or other structural material has in substantially immediate or direct and permanent-contact with one or more of its surfaces a transferred photographic image of the grain of fanother'wo'od.

The invention will be described further and by way of example with4 reference to the, accompanying' drawings, in Which1` Figure 1 represents a photograph of a section of Wood having `a suitable grain. This figure is a positiye of the grain, while Figure 2 isv a similar viewilreprese'nting 4a negative of the grain.

Figure 3 isa section of the photographic prints, positive or negative, as shown inl .Figures 1 and 2.

Figure' 4 is a section showingra layer of, threeply wood with the photographic image in director immediate contact with one sur- `face of the Wood and the paper backing' process of being stripped off. f p Figure 5 is a. view showingpositivesand so l,

negatives of the grainof wood, the positives being located at the top right-hand'and bottom left-hand corners, while the negatives are'located at the left-hand top and right-hand bottom corners. Y

Figure 6 is` a section ofthe wood thus treated. 1 In the drawings, 1 represents-'the .image formed a light sensitive silver salt emulsion.; 2 represents the paper backing on which this image is produced; 3, in Figure 4, represents a sheet of three-ply wood with the photographic image l in director im.-

mediate contact with it, the said photo-4 graphic' image being transferred to the three-ply wood by rolling or otherwise forcingthe photographic print of thegraili of the woodl produced upona 'suitable stripping bromlde paper and then stripping off the paper support for the image.. lIn Figures 5 and6 positive and negative `representations of the grain of .a piece vof wood veneer are'so laid up as to resemble and to give the light andvshade In Figure 6,4 represents' the wood erv ther like forming the base or support for .the

.,imag'e,jwhi1e, as in the revious 1 represents the pliotograp ic image.

f In accordance with the invention, the surface maybe constituted yby a photographic image of the grain or veining of a single variety of woodor other 'naturally occurring material, such as marble, or of a plurality of varieties in which casethe surface will repf lresentinlay or marquetry work and 1n,such

.permit the image produced thereon to be ltransferred' to another supporting surface may be used. ,u

The print may, if desired, be toned as a whole or locally or redeveloped or otherwise treated to'impart to it the desired colour or intensity.

Itinight appear thata photographic print suitable for transfer to the surface to be decorated could normally be fermled'bythe employment of. av negative obtainedly exposin :in the customary manner a suitably e. sensitized plate in- 'a camera to secure a negative of lthe .grain of the w od or vein-A ing of a stone, the image of. w ich it is desired to reproduce. In practice it isfound, however, that such negatives or positives' )which 'are correct or true prints of such negatives are in manycases not wholly 'suitable. Further, in usefth'ese negatives or .true positives are liable to become injured.'

i Preferably, therefore, corrected Aor ,ad-

justed negatives or positives are produced f by forming a bromideprint bythe projection of light through a negative obtained by exposure in aA camera or a positive formed from such a negative on to a sheete of.

bromide paper adapted toJ permit the paper support to be stripped from the emulsion, ,while locally controlling the exposure of the bromide paper, and transferring the emulsion after development and i fixation to a sheet of transparent materia-l such as glass. By this means a transparency is obtained which may be used without Vany special skill on the part of the operative in. making the prints which are subsequently transferred ,to the surface to bev decorated.

These prints will be contact prints formed on a suitable bromide paper and they will be transferred to the material to be decorated. l

Prior to eii'ecting the transfer of the image the surface of the structural material may be treated with lan adhesive which may 'be of a non-aqueouscharacter, for instance an alcoholic solution ofshellac.

When the image has been produced on the original surface of the Wood or other structuralmateial which, if desirable or neces-v sary, may have been treated or not with a' Wood filler4 or other material adapted tol close ,the grain or impart to it la suitable surface as, forl instance, by modifying its original colour, the new or modified surface thus produced may be further treatedl as, for instance, by staining, varnishing or polishing. .y i

Zhen itis desired to provide on the sur'- face a photographic image of which individualportions are counterparts orarethe mirror images of others, 'as would be the case in producing a representation of apanel veneered in two sections, for instance, with two pieces of veneer of substantially the saniegrain, the one' being reversed relatively to the-other, two prints may be fprmedone yin the usual way, the other with the negativey reversed.

The following' particulars are given, byv

way of example, to illustrate a' suitable method of carrying the4 invention into A. photographic negative of a decorative` wood surface suchmfor instance, as a mar-d quetry panel 'is taken, a panchromatic plate or ilm being employed in conjunction with a light filter adapted toi produce an accentue ated or forced representation of thev grain, and 'from the negative a print'on'transfer bro-mide paper is made.

The print is toned by the wellu known ferricyanide-soldium sulphide method or by the copper toning process wholly or locally depending .upon the effect it is desired to secure, or the character of the marquetry panel.

To the surface of a panel of wood, finished A by sanding, anadhesive of the consistency of l,cream and comprising gelatine and glue is appliedl hot and the face of the toned print is. `after hardening in one of the usual behe. likewise treated wiel the adhesive and the coated surfaces of the wood lpanel squeegeedinto firm contact, the panel lwith the print secured to it being placed under pressure until the adhesive has hardened and the paper backing or support may be readily s stripped off. f

The wood panelwith the print from which thek backing` has been stripped is then rubbed over with a solution of. Wax and French polished or varnished. i Y

In carrying the invention into effect with a view to the decoration ofmetal or stone or artificial *stone, to .the .surface ofthe material, after treatmentl if necessary,- *o reduce its .porosity or provide a suitably smooth surface, a photographic print of the grain .of a .wood or stone formed by ex posing asheet of a bromide paper of the known character whichfis adapte ermitr p 13o the paper being stripped from-the colloid U0 and of the print brought together and f layer including the light sensitive silver salt, is applied with the printed surface downwards or in contact with the material While wet. The print is rolled or pressed into firm contact with the material and subjected to such further treatment as' may be necessary to `enable the paper support of the print to be stripped or separated from the colloi-:l layer. Thus, for instance, after rmly squeegeeing or pressing the surface of thex print into contact with the surface of the material to be decorated a jet of steam may be applied to the paper backing in order to soften the gelatine or to melt the waxy material which is interposed between the emulsion and the paper backing, and' whenthe connection between the colloid layer in which the print is formed and the paper has been suitably weakened the paper is gradually peeled or stripped oil", yleaving the print firmly secured tothe structural material.

When the print is thoroughly dry the surface may be treated by lacquering, polishing or enamelling.

In some cases it may be desirable to apply to the structural material an adhesive adapted to secure firm contact between the print and the surface, but as a rule this is unnecessary. Dependent upon the character of the wood or stone which the material treated is desired to simulate, the surface of the material may be tinted prior to applying .the print. Thus, if the surface is normally dark, it may be furnished with a coat of paint or priming material `of a light colour which may, in general, correspond with the natural colour of the wood or stone, the grain or veining of which is to be reproduced on the said surface. Similarly, the print may be-toned or transparent colouring materials may be applied to the surface after the print has been transferred thereto provided, of cdurse, that the surface of the material is naturally light in colour or has been made suitably light in colour by the application thereto of suitable pigments.

The invention is particularlyy ap licable to the treatment of sheet metal'sudh as is now used in the manufacture of furniture and to the treatment of the so-called asbestos slate. Natural slate treated' in accordance with the invention is particularly adapted for use in forming mantelpieces.

It is to be understood that the mere connection with the surface of a body of structural material of a' photographic image with an opaque support, such as paper, intervening between it and/the surface of the structural material is expressly excluded from the scope of the present invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Y Letters Patent is 1. The process of producing decorated structural material which comprises forming a photographic negative o f the grain of a naturally occurring material by exposing in a camera a sensitized surface adapted to yield a transparency, forming by projection with the aid of said negative a rint on paper coated with a bromide emu ion, transferring the exposed bromide emulsion to a sheet of transparent material and using xthe resulting transparency in forming a contact print in a light sensitive silver` salt emulsion on a temporary support and transferring the print to a surface of the structural material to be decorated.

2. A new article of manufacture, namely structural material, having in immediate and permanent contact with one of its surfaces an emulsion containing diagonally opposed negative and diagonally opposed positive silver images of the grain of a naturally occurring material.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LEONARD GEORGE NICOLL. 

